Grass-cutter.



A. EUGHENHOPBR.

GRASS GUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED DB0. 1, 1909.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT orrion ALEXNDER EUCHENHOFER, OF DAYTON, OHIO.

GRASS-CUTTER.

Specification of lLetters Patent. Patented NOV. 29, 1910.

Application led December 1, 1909. Serial No. 530,776.

To `all whom it may concern: p

Beit known that I, ALEXANDER Ecomm- Hornn, a citizen of t-he United States, residing at Qayton, in the county of Montgomery vand State of Ohio, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements in Grass-Cubters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description` of the invent-ion, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertalns izo-make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanylng drawings, and tothe letters and igures of reference marked thereon.

wh ich the other to manipulate a rake to present thev blades vof grass in a proper position for the thirdly, to 'provide such a device with 'a minimum of '.triction 'as well as a minimum c ostl of construction, all as will hereinafter more fully be set forth in the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of my improved grass cutter lwith a Yportion broken out to save space, and a portion appearing in section. Fig. 2is a bottom plan view of the shears or cutter looking from below, as the same is shown in Fig. 1. Fig. `3 is a `cross sectional view of the .body or casing portion on the line a-a of Fig. 1. Fig. 4

is an enlarged sectional View ofthe body or'- casing portion on the line ZL-b of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation of the slotted cam member removed from the body or casing shown in Figs. 1 and 4'.

The handle or grip portion of, the implement consists of parts 1 which form a yoke, and from which extends a hollow rod or tubular member 2. On the lower end ofthisv rod 2 is mounteda bod ort-ion or cylindrical casing 3. The 'tuiiul suiicient length to permit of an easy manipulation of thejm lement and without re quiring Vthe manipu ator to stoop or bend over.A Extending from a side of the cylin- (l1-ical casing 3, 1s an arm in the form of a ar rod 2 is of a' bracket 4 which'sup orts a well known form of 'shears or grass c ippers. The said grass clippers consist of aA spring 5 in the form.

of a bow, handle portions 6 and blades 7 the' handle portions 6 adording means for attaching the ends of the spring 5.

vThe point .of attachment between the bracket arm 4 and the lspring 5 is at the middle of'said spring, as isv shown in Fig. 2. The handle portions 6 are connected at the rear of the blades 7 by a strip of flexible non -resilient vmaterial S, such as leather, cloth, or a chain or any other material which has the necessary fiexibility The central portion of this flexible strip 8 passes between a biurcated stud shaft 9, as shown in Fig. 2. The stud shafty 9 projects through the lower head of the lcylindrical casing 3, andthe upper' end of said shaft connects with'a cam` member 10 which is provided with-helical slots 111'. The said cam member 10 'turns in the-cylindrical casing 3 upon anti-friction bearings such as balls 21, in order to prevent excessiveV friction between said cam member and the other parts. Vertically reciprocating within the cylindrical casing 3 is a cross head 12 the extreme outer ends of which project into the helical cam slots 11 and ,the slots 13, may be turned as will'presently appear. The portions of said cross head lying within the cam slots are provided with anti-friction rollers 14 which engage the adjacent edges of said slots. The said cross head is vertically reciprocated throughout the lengths of the slots 13 in the sides of the casin 3, by a rod 15 which extends upward y` through the ltube 2. and has its extreme upper end connected with a cross piece 19A 'lying within the handle yoke 1. This cross plece 19 provides a convenient finger,

Vgrip for the hand which4 lmanipulates the implement.` The lower endof the rod l5 is provided with an enlargement 16 which en gages t-he lowerend. of a helical spring 17` which surrounds .said rod 15. The` upper end of the spring lfengages a pin 18 w ch extendsthrough the tube 2 and thussaid v spring is inclosed at both ends and is4 compressed when the rod 15 is drawn up by the' ngersengaging the nger grip 19.v The normalv position of the spring 1,7 is 'open and when the spring is in suchconditlon, the cutter blades 7 are open or spread apart as in Fig. 2. Inv the normal condition of the spring 17, it will be understood the cross head 12 is at the lower end of the cam member 10, as in Fig. 4. The fingerv grip '19 is connected to the rbd 1 5`by a swivel 20. As appears in Fig. 4, the lower end of the rod 15 is rigidly attachedfto vthe cross head 12.

When the rod 15 'is elevatedy by means of the finger grip 19, ,the swivel 2O permits said finger grip to conform to the irregular movementof the finger 4and thus the possibility of undue friction is avoided. When the rod 15 and cross head 12 are elevated, the cam member 10 will be turned, andthe effective I length of the Hexible connection v8 will be shortened by being wrapped around the stud shaft 9.` This draws the cutter blades to-l gether, thereby `securin a shearingi'action, and after the release o the nger grip -19 the spring 5 opens said cutter blades and so the implement is operated by drawing upwardly the rod 15 and releasing it. OneA hand may thus easily manipulate the device, leaving the other hand free to rake the grass into a proper position to be'operated yu on. The anti-friction members 21 above andp below the cam member 10, reduceto a minimum the friction caused by the rocking of said cam member by the 'cross-head 12 through the rise and fall of the rod 15.

Having described my invention, I claim: 1. In a grass clipper, a pair of shears, a

' flexible nonfresilient connecting member between the members of said shears, and means engaging said fiexible non-resillent member to shorten the effective length thereof to close the shears. y

2. In a grass clipper, a pair of shears the members of which are connected by aspring which maintains said shears normally open,

ermee tached to the members of said shears, a rot-a-y tive member engaging said fiexible member' and adapted to decrease the length of said flexible member to close the members of the shears, a reciprocative member, and means interposed between said reciprocative member and said rotative member whereby the reciprocation of one member will rotate the other. f. f

4. In a grass clipper, a pair of shears the members of which arel connected by a spring which no1 mally maintains said shearsfopen,

.a flexible member betweenv and attached to the members of said shears, a rotative member engaging said flexible member to shorten the same and thereby close the shears, cam

devices controlling said rotative member, a

reciprocating member operative in one directionto rotate the rotative member in one direction, and aspring o erating the recip- 1 rocating member in the ot er direction toreverse the movement of the rotative member,

substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature,

in presence oftwo witnesses.

ALEXANDER EUCHENHOFER.

- Witnesses:

MATTHEW SIEBLER, HOWARD S. SMITH. 

